Carton transfer mechanism



Jan. 13, 1953 T. E. PIAZZE 2,625,254

CARTON TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Sept. 27, 1946 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 L IN VENTOR.

@ZMMM/ Jan. 13, 1953 T. E. PIAZZE 2,625,254

CARTON TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Sept. 27, 1946 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 PatentedJan. 13, 1 953 CARTON TRANSFER MECHANISM Thomas E. Piazze, Mount Vernon,Ohio, assignor 'to Shellmar Products Corporation, Chicago, 111.,

a corporation of Delaware Application September 27, 1946, Serial No.699,764

. 1' This invention has to do with carton machines. More particularly,it pertains to carton handling machines wherein collapsed cartons havingtop and bottom closure flaps have been opened,

- placed on a mandrel and the bottom fiaps'folded and glued together toprovide a bottom closure, the carton being removed from the mandrel to acompressing unit by means of a novel transfer mechanism and that is aprincipal object of the invention.

Generally, it is an object of the invention to provide a transfermechanism having means to receive cartons from the mandrel and todeliver them to another position for further handling, and means toeject the cartons from the transfer mechanism into a further handlingunit for continued operation.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a.transfer mechanism which includes a pivotally mounted carton receivingchamber to receive the cartons from the mandrel and to deliver them toanother position for further handling, and an ejecting membercooperatively associated with the movement of the transfer mechanism toeject the cartons therefrom to another receiving means for furtheroperation,

'such as the setting of the glued bottom closure.

The invention accordingly comprises the feao tures of construction,combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the claims. 1

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the inventionreference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view, partly in section and with parts removed, of atransfer mechanism embodying the invention illustrated in cooperativeassociation with a portion of a preferred type of carton machine;

Fig. 2 is a somewhat enlarged end elevational view, partly in sectionand with parts removed, of the transfer mechanism depicted in Fig. 1;and

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view, partly in section and with partsremoved, showing a portion of a presser mechanism used in conjunctionwith the carton machine for pressing the bottoms of the glued togetherflaps prior to their being ejected from the mandrel into the transfermechanism.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown generally atID a preferred type of carton handling machine of the turret typecarrying a plurality of mandrels ll. Each of sclaims. 101498-24) thesemandrels shows a carton l2 having top and bottom closure flaps whichpreviously has been opened from collapsed position, the bottom closureflaps having been glued and folded together, and being held and pressedin this position by the presser band [3 operated by the pressingmechanism indicated generally at 14. This latter mechanism is operatedfrom a drive shaft l5 which receives its power through a gear I6 meshedwith a gear I! carrying a bevel gear l8 meshed with a. bevel gear IS onthe main drive shaft of the turret mechanism.

The pressing mechanism [4 is cam actuated by a cam 2| on the main driveshaft l5 through the linkage arrangement clearly illustrated in themechanism generally indicated at l4. The cam 2| has a cam follower, orroller, 22 which actuates the arm 23 secured to the shaft 24. This inturn actuates the arm 25 against pressure of a spring 26 on a shaft 21so that the shoes 28, 28, at the end of the linkage arrangement urge theresilient presser band I3 against the glued bottom flaps of the cartonas an aid toward setting the closure a the mandrels I l rotate thecartons [2 into this position. Thus, each carton is twice pressed as itis additionally wiped along the presser band I3.

Ultimately each carton is ejected from its mandrel by an ejector member30 which constitutes a rod with a plate secured to the end reciprocablymounted within the mandrel. The carton is thus removed from the mandrelby having the plate at the end of the rod l3 pushing against the nowglued together bottom closure in which the glue has not yet finally set.

A particular feature of the invention resides in thetransfer mechanismfor receiving each carton as it is ejected from the mandrel anddelivering it to another position for further handling and thereafterbringing into operation another ejecting means to eject the carton fromthe transfer mechanism for further operations in connection with thecarton.

The transfer mechanism preferably constitutes a receiving chamberindicated generally at which consists of a, base plate 36, a to plate.

37 and a retaining pin 38 to hold the carton in position. This receivingchamber is secured to one arm of a bell crank type of lever 39 pivotallymounted on a stud 40. The other end of the bell crank arm is connected,by means of an adjustable link 4|, to a cam arm 42 carrying a camroller, or follower, 43 riding in a cam slot 44 of an actuating cam 45.This mechanism pivot-ally swings the transfer mechanism from the solidline position indicated, to the dotted line position for receiving thecarton and then back again to the solid line position, whereupon thecarton is ejected from the receiving chamber for further handling.

The ejecting mechanism comprises an ejection member, or pusher plate, 50which in fact forms one wall of the chamber 35. This plate is connectedto a slidably mounted or reciprocable bar 51 operating between gibs 52,52. The reciprocable bar carries a stud 53 to which is connected anactuating arm 54 pivotally mounted at 55 on a stud upwardly projectingfrom the base plate directly below. The arm 54 is connected to anotheradjustable link 56 which in turn is connected to a cam arm 51 carrying acam roller 58 riding in the groove 59 of the cam 60. The latter cam andthe cam 45 for actuating th pivotally mounted receiving chamber are bothmounted on the shaft 15 which also actuates the presser mechanism 14. Asthe carton I2 is received at its point of ejection from the mandrel II,as shown in the'dotted linep'osition, it is returned to the solid lineposition and ejected from the receiving chamber byvthe wall plate 50.

The cartons which are now closed at their hottoms but with the topclosure extension flaps still open are-next received between the belts6|, 6|, of a conveyor member. The belts aid further in pressing theglued bottom closure of the carton in position, holding them for a timesumcient to allow theglue between the bottom closure flaps to setthoroughly, and are adapted to convey the cartons with the opened flapsto a filling station after which the'cartons can be closed for shippingthe packaged commodities.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction anddifierent embodiments of the invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for handling cartons wherein formed cartons are carriedon a series of mandrels on a turret and stripped from the mandrels in adirection radially of theturret for transfer to a conveyor arranged in aline generally tangential to th periphery of the turret, a transfermechanism comprising a pocket forming member for receiving the cartonsfrom successive mandrels, a pivotally mounted bell crank, said pocketforming member being mounted on one arm of said bell crank, acam-operated link pivotally connected to the other arm of the bell crankfor oscillating the same between a carton receiving position where thepocket forming member is in axial alignment with a mandrel on .4 saidturret to a position where the pocket forming member is in transversealignment with the conveyor, said pocket forming member having a wallmovable transversely thereof and camoperated means on said bell crankfor moving said wall to deliver the carton from said pocket formingmember to said conveyor.

2. In a machine for handling cartons wherein cartons are formed on aseries of mandrels on a rotatable turret and successively stripped fromthe mandrels in a direction radially of the turret for transfer to aconveyor arranged in a line at an angle to the direction of movement ofthe cartons as they are stripped from the turret mandrels, a transfermechanism between the turret and the conveyor comprising a pocketforming frame member for receiving the individual cartons fromsuccessive'mandrels, said frame member being mounted for arcuatemovement, a cam-operated link pivotally connected to the frame memberfor oscillating the same between a carton receiving position where theframe member is in alignment with a mandrel on said turret to a positionwhere the frame member is in alignment with the conveyor, said framemember having a movable ejector plate and camoperated means for movingsaid ejector plate to deliver the carton from said frame member to saidconveyor.

3. In a machine for handling cartons wherein the cartons are carried ona series of forming mandrels on a turret and stripped from the mandrelsin an axial direction for transfer to a conveyor arranged in a line atan angle to the movement of the successive cartons as they are strippedfrom the mandrels, a transfer mechanism between the turret and theconveyor comprising a pocket forming member for receiving the cartonssuccessively from the mandrels, a pivotally mounted bell crank, saidpocket forming member being mounted on one arm of said bell crank, acam-operated link pivotally connected to the other arm of the bell crankfor oscillating the same to position the pocket forming membersuccessively in axial alignment with a mandrel on the turret and in endalignment with the conveyor, said pocket forming member having a movableback wall portion and camoperated reciprocating means mounted on saidbell crank for moving said wall portion to eject the cartons from saidpocket forming member when it is aligned with said conveyor.

THOMAS E. PIAZZE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Hank Feb. 23, 1932

